Pope Francis is attempting an "end around" play here, so he can say, "Not our fault."

The answer to the problem of pedophile priests is immediate suspension or dismissal and referral to law enforcement of priests accused of child sexual abuse. Ending the toleration and cover-ups of such behavior would go a long way toward reducing the number of incidents. Having women as priests in equal numbers with men would also be a deterrent, since they might be less likely to tolerate such behavior. Allowing priests to marry and procreate would be another way to decrease the number of occurences.

Saying, "Not our fault," however, accomplishes nothing. That has been demonstrated for quite a long time.

Which are about as reliable as a coin flip.

So I suspect that has a lot more to do with it.

But it isn’t as simple as asking “are you a pedophile?” It uses other therapeutic techniques to probe beyond the surface.

I think it’s a positive step and won’t weed out all predators, but enough to make some impact.

It’s like the starfish story - the little boy running along the beach at low tide tossing starfish back into the ocean. His mom tells him “you can’t save them all, it doesn’t matter...”

He replies, “it matters to this one,” as he throws another back.

It’s not a full-on plan to combat this, I agree, but it can help.

I’m a Methodist, so an outsider, but I get the vibe that the current pope is so much less political and was so focused on his own pet issues/mission that he really didn’t fully comprehend the breadth of this problem. I see someone grasping at ideas and throwing them out and trying to fight the cardinals to implement some punishments and change - while hitting a red brick wall and practiced stall tactics.

I wonder, if left alone, if he would allow priests to marry?

Changing the practices and culture of the church that enables abuse is something the pope could constructively do. But he won't.